Zombie Crawl VIII is the continuation of zombie fights run by John Caputo at Battleground Games & Hobbies. John has been the Zombie Crawl twice a year for four years with the event usually happening near Easter and near Halloween. The game is run using Games Workshop’s Necromunda rules. Each player controls a single miniature in a free-for-all battle to defeat zombies, other players, and ultimately survive the game. Alliances are vital to survival but are also short-lived.

The eight installment shines a light onto the world of Morbius, located near the Eye of Terror. The planet was bombarded by forces of Chaos, which ruined the industrial planet. Red meteroids crashed into the planet killing off 90% of the population. The remainder were turned into zombies by the plague the meteroids caused. The planetary garrison retreated to their barracks in a holding action. Players must traverse the capitol city of Io and climb aboard a ship to escape across the waters.

Many people only show up at the store to participate in this event. It is one of the few free events, which garners such high levels of participation. Tonight’s game featured no less than a dozen gamers excitedly rolling their pitted cubes in an effort to shoot, stab, and bludgeon the innumerable undead.

One of the things that makes Zombie Crawl special is John Caputo. He manages to make each event unique in some way. Sometimes hidden monsters appear, innocuous bunny rabbits might wipe out half of the players, and tabletop items might create unexpected results. Most things that players see on the table can be used in some way. Crates might have special weapons, barrels can explode, ladders can be climbed, switches can be activated, gates opened, vehicles used, and weapons jammed.

It is inspiring to see so many people having a fun time. There’s no doubt of this when observing a gamer’s character die in a grand explosion to the raucous applause of all, as the gamer laughs his head off.

John has managed to seal each event with his kind and enthusiastic spirit. He thoughtfully considers anything a player wishes to do, which may or may not work out how that player intended. Two things are assured for Zombie Crawl. You will have fun. You will likely die. It is a rarity that anyone survives the event, despite numerous respawns, but that never sees to matter.

Zombie Crawl is truly a highlight of the Battleground gaming calendar. Hopefully you can join the fun for Zombie Crawl IX.